The European Region of Gastronomy 2019 title was recommended to be given to two bidding regions, South Aegean (Greece) and Sibiu (Romania), on Thursday 29 September 2016 at the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu. The announcement took place prior to the 9th European Region of Gastronomy Platform Meeting.
The international jury comprising of IGCAT experts was chaired by Blanca Cros from the Catalan Tourist Agency (Spain), and included Peter Astrup, Central Denmark Region (Denmark); Anna Blaua, Delightfully Delicious Destination Project at Riga Tourism Development Bureau (Latvia); Alfred van Mameren, Province of Noord-Brabant (Netherlands) and; Ilona Sares, ProAgria Kuopio (Finland).
The jury was impressed with the work undertaken by both candidates regions in preparing and presenting their bids remarked that they had both:
- managed to integrate the different focus areas of the European Region of Gastronomy very well into their programme;
- obvious gastronomic strengths on which to implement their programmes;
- shown a strong commitment from the regional partners to the programme;
- a good stakeholder base with representatives from public, private, third sector and universities.
The jury formulated its recommendations to each of the two regions, advising them to:
- think about more activities to promote collaboration between SMEs at European level, particularly taking advantage of the linkages that could be established;
- consider how will they ensure pride is taken in the programme by local people;
- plan how they will work with all the European Region of Gastronomy Platform regions on collaborative marketing;
- present good qualitative as well as quantitative indicators;
- clarify how they will use the budget for their programmes.
In addition, it was recommended that Sibiu:
- give more attention to innovation and agriculture involving large scale companies;
- link programs, events and others actions regarding the focus areas and objectives to give more clarity;
and, it was recommended that the South Aegean:
- implement the digital agenda as a priority ensuring they bring in the right tools and expertise;
- assign someone from the executive committee authorised to full time assist the coordination of this programme.
IGCAT’s board will approve the jury decision in November 2016 and an official award ceremony will take place in early 2017.
About IGCAT
IGCAT (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism) organises the Award with the support of European institutions. IGCAT (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism is an international network of experts in the fields of culture, arts, tourism and gastronomy that aim to empower local communities by guiding, facilitating and supporting leaders in cities, regions and cultural projects to understand the potential of their distinct food, culture, arts and sustainable tourism assets.
About the European Region of Gastronomy
The European Region of Gastronomy Platform and Award aim to contribute to better quality of life in European regions, by highlighting distinctive food cultures, educating for better health and sustainability and stimulating gastronomic innovation. Candidate regions are invited to join a knowledge-exchange platform of European regions in order to further cross-border collaborations and develop shared initiatives.